Despina

This composite Hubble Space Telescope picture shows the location of a newly discovered moon, designated S/2004 N 1, orbiting the giant planet Neptune, nearly 3 billion miles from Earth. This version of the image includes compass and scale notations. Image Credit: NASA/JPL

Discovery

Despina was discovered in July 1989 by the Voyager 2 science team.

Overview

Despina is a tiny moon located within Neptune's faint ring system. The irregularly-shaped moon orbits Neptune every eight hours, circling in the same direction as Neptune's own rotation. Despina remains close to Neptune's equatorial plane.

How Despina Got its Name

Despina is a daughter of Poseidon (the Roman god Neptune) and Demeter. Despina was originally designated S/1989 N3.